OLYMPIUS . An epithet of Zeus derived from Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, the legendary home of the gods. Antiochus Epiphanes caused the Temple at Jerusalem to be dedicated to Zeus Olympius in b.c. 168 ( 2Ma 6:2 ), and the setting up of his image is the ‘abomination of desolation’ ( Daniel 9:27 ). Cf. Jupiter.

A. E. Hillard.